88 



\ ^ m * ^ ^ =€ 



March, 1914. 



American ^cc -Jonrnal j 



can stand wonderful extremes of tem- 

 perature, and wherever they have 

 abundance of good stores in the hive, 

 I think they will winter all right unless 

 the present arctic weather continues 

 too long. But it is milder today, and a 

 change is near, no doubt. 



The Iowa and New York Reports 



Those are splendid photographs on 

 the cover page of the February issue, 

 and are valuable from an educational 

 standpoint. The depressed cappings 

 are shown so clearly, and other gen- 

 eral characteristics of American foul 

 brood so apparent that a greenhorn 

 should be able to diagnose foul brood 

 if he has a text book and pictures like 

 that. I think it is the best photograph 

 of foul-brood combs I have seen, and 

 any beekeeper who is not familiar with 

 this disease should keep the picture 

 handy for reference. 



I am indebted to some one for a 

 copy of the annual report of the Iowa 

 Foul Brood Inspector. These same 

 photographs are shown there. Some 

 time ago I also received a copy of 

 " The Honey Bee," a bulletin issued by 

 New York State, and edited by our 

 friend W. D. Wright. It is a splendid 

 work, the best in that line I have ever 

 known to be issued by a State Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. Although some- 

 what tardy in acknowledging this book- 

 let, my thanks are none the less sincere. 



Answer to Dr. Miller 



On page 43 of the February issue, Dr. 

 Miller seems to think that I infer that 

 he has a better location for beekeeping 

 than we have. No, Doctor, one year 

 with another I do not think so, but 

 every once in a while I notice that your 

 honey flow will last for seven or eight 

 weeks at a stretch, something I never 

 knew here in Ontario from any one 

 source. Clover rarely yields over four 

 weeks in succession; in fact, in our 

 immediate locality I never knew it to 

 last that long. This past season was 

 the longest in my experience, and it 

 did not extend over that length of time, 

 although in some sections of Ontario 

 it did on account of more rain. Don't 

 think foi a moment. Doctor, that I am 

 at all envious, for next to myself I can 

 think of no one I would sooner see get 

 a bumper crop than yourself. As to 

 the "woman in the case," I accept all 

 you say with this amendment : Instead 

 of narrowing it to a "full-blooded 

 Scotchwoman," include " German Ca- 

 nadians. Come to think of it, I know 

 of a lot of women hustlers here in On- 

 tario who are at least " ha'f of the 

 game " in producingthe crops of honey, 

 and for fear all have not German blood 

 in their veins, I will insist that all 

 "Canadians" be included when giving 

 honor to the work done by the ladies. 



Changeable Weather in March 



March is the month that gives us 

 many changes of weather. Some of 

 these changes are not pleasant, but I 

 doubt if any other month gives us more 

 real pleasure — pleasure being derived 

 from ant HI flit/ ion. Bees wintered out- 



doors generally have their first flights, 

 and how interested we are in seeing 

 their condition. The first birds arrive 

 from the South, and the notes of the 

 robin, the harbinger of spring, is 

 sweeter than any music for months 

 past 



The ice in the rivers breaks up, and 

 the grass begins to show on sheltered 

 banks facing south — all these signs 

 tell us that summer is coming, remind- 

 ing us of the promise that as long as 

 the earth stands, seedtime and harvest, 

 summer and winter shall not fail. Lit- 

 tle real work is to be done in the api- 

 ary in Ontario, and anticipation oc- 

 cupies our minds more than at other 

 seasons of the year. Some years the 

 weather is warm enough to allow 

 scraping of combs, etc., but, as a rule, 

 we have to wait until April to work 

 comfortably in unheated buildings. 



ting out boxes in the trees for the bees 

 to go into. This indicates one of many 

 things, careless beekeepers, abundance 

 of wild bees in the rocks, etc., and 

 other reasons that might be mentioned. 

 What is the correct solution ? 



Why So Many Swarms? 



A subscriber from California states, 

 on page 61, that he has in one season 

 presumably caught 60 swarms by put- 



Wintering Out-of-doors 



In February notes I mentioned hav- 

 ing received a letter from a friend in 

 Ohio under date of Jan. 7, which stated 

 that they had 30 inches of snow. At 

 that time we had but a few inches, and 

 up to the present time we have had 

 only a light snow fall. Under date of 

 Feb. 7, this same friend writes that the 

 snow is all gone and the bees have been 

 flying freely for a week; in fact, it was 

 so warm that robbing was attempted. 

 Under such conditions one wonders 

 why cellar wintering should ever be 

 thought of. Surely, it must be easy to 

 winter outdoors where bees are certain 

 of cleansing flights in midwinter. Or 

 is there a possibility that the bees win- 

 ter better outdoors in a locality where 

 no days are warm enough for a mid- 

 winter flight? 



Convention m> Proceedings 



o 



The Washington Meeting 



The beekeepers of Washington State 

 held their 20th annual convention at 

 North Yakima on Jan. 7 and 8. It was 

 the best meeting in the history of the 

 association in the following ways: 

 Numbers, enthusiasm, educational 

 points, and good fellowship. The en- 

 thusiasm was at a high pitch all the 

 time. Every paper and talk /e/i in- 

 structive, and every one had a broth- 

 erly feeling for every one else. 



Among the visitors from outside the 

 State were Mr., Mrs., and Miss Espy, 

 of Iowa. Mr. Espy gave a talk on short 

 methods of curing foul brood, which 

 was well received. Mrs. Espy spoke 

 on the subject, "Why women should 

 be beekeepers." 



Mr. Anson White told how he in- 

 creased from 4 colonies to 29 and har- 

 vested 730 pounds of extracted honey. 

 He believes in leaving a large supply 

 of winter stores. Mr. White and Leigh 

 Freeman, editor of Northwest Farm 

 and Home, are the only remaining char- 

 ter members of our organization. 



All of the papers were full of whole- 

 some instruction and created discus- 

 sion, especially when the care of alfalfa 

 and sweet clover was mentioned. In 

 all, over 100 people attended. There 

 were 80 at the banquet held the second 

 day. The following offjcers were elected 

 for 1914: E. E. Starkey, president; 

 L. G. Simmons, vice-president; Gus. 

 Sipp, treasurer; J. B. Ramage, secre- 

 tary. 



The president, secretary, and C. W. 

 Higgins were appointed Legislative 

 Committee to draft a foul-brood law 

 to be presented to the next legislature, 



and to urge the passage before the 

 members. 



When the convention adjourned, the 

 happiest binick of beekeepers separated 

 that it has been my lot to be associated 

 with. J. B. Ramage, Sec. 



North Yakima, Wash. 



Tennessee Beekeepers Meet 



The 8th annual meeting of the Ten- 

 nessee Beekeepers' Association was 

 held at Nashville on Jan. 30, 1914, Presi- 

 dent J. M. Davis presiding. The presi- 

 dent, in his opening address, urged in- 

 creased energy in getting more mem- 

 bers for the association, and suggested 

 field meets during the summer to create 

 added interest. 



Dr. J. S. Ward, of Nashville, read a 

 paper by his brother, Mr. Porter C. 

 Ward, on " General Farming and Bee- 

 keeping Combined." Mr. Ward pro- 

 duced 10,000 pounds of honey in con- 

 nection with his farm work during 

 1913 with but little help except during 

 extracting time. 



Mr. Ward's paper was followed by an 

 address by Mr. L. F. Watkins on 

 " Fancy Comb Honey in Spite of Foul 

 Brood." Mr. T. J. Ayers and Sandy 

 lillis discussed the subject of control 

 of swarming. 



Dr. J. S. Ward gave a very interesting 

 account of his experiences with foul 

 brood as an inspector. He stated that 

 it was surprising to note the number 

 of colonies still kept in box-hives 

 throughout the State. These, naturally, 

 give but little surplus, and are the 

 breeding place for foul brood. 



If the box-hive could be eliminated 

 it would mean a great gain for bee- 



